Plant-setting machine



(No Model.)

' N. M. CHEW.

PLANT SETTING MACHINE;

No. 440,738. Patented Nov. 18, 1890.

I 1 3 -nmmw gnu-r m m w m WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NOAH M. CHElV, OF SOUTHPORT, INDIANA.

PLANT-SETTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 440,738, dated November 18, 1890.

Application filed March 24, 1890.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NOAH M. CHEW, of Southport, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plant-Set-tin g Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like figures refer to like parts.

My invention relates to the construction of plant-setting machines, and is an improvement on the device for which Letters Patent No. 406,336 were issued to me July 2, 1889, and will be understood from the following description.

. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top view. Fig. 2 is a sectional View on the line 00 00, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the hinge by which the row-marker is connected to the frame of the machine. Fig. -.t is an enlarged detail front view of the brackets carrying the covering wheels, one of them being in section. Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the coupling mechanism and seat frame.

The machine comprises a rear platform section 1, upon which are seats or cushions 6 for the men who are to set the plants. This platform is supported upon a pair of covering-wheels 22, which are mounted upon stubaxles 21, connected with brackets 19, bolted to the under side of the platform on each side. In my former machine these wheels were mounted upon the inside of the bracketshank, the axles extending at an angleupward toward the platform, and the result was that when the soil was wet and the wheels sank therein the earth was crowded in against the shoulder of the axle, often packing there and clogging the movement of the machine. By mounting the wheel upon the outside and elevating the end of the bracket where the axle is connected all packing of soil and clogging is prevented. This construction (shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings) is greatly preferable to that shown in a similar figure in my former application. The rear platform 1 is provided with a seat 9 for the driver, which is adjustably set on the framework 8, having an open slot, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, so that the driver by the mere movement of his body can draw the seat forward or push it Serial No. 345,013- (No model.)

backward, adjusting it, as may be desired, so as to bring his weight either over the end of the furrow-marker and sink it deeper into the ground or back over the coveringwheels, thereby raising the furrow-marker out of the ground. This is another improvement upon my former patent. This seat-frame 8 is connected by brace-rods 7 to the rear coupling bar 5, which is formed integral with the bar 4, having short axles or gudgeons on either side journaled in arms 3, connected to the bars 2, that connect the two parts of the platform, so as to allow a rocking movement upon these axles for the rear or platform section of the machine. This rear section is also connected to the front section 11 by bars 2, which are hinged at 26 to the board 12 of the front section of the machine, this section being composed of the boards 11 and 12, and the furrow-markers 27 are connected beneath, as shown in Fig. 2, so that this part of the machine rests directly upon these furrow markers.

24. is a link by which. connection is made between the front draft-beam 23 and the rear couplingbeam 5, the former passing under the latter in the manner shownin Figs. 2 and 5,so that when the driver shifts his seat forward the weight of his body operates upon the beam 5, which rests upon the beam 23, to crowd the furrowmarker farther into the ground. This beam 23 is stayed to the bars 2 by braces 28, and the boards 11 and 12 are also connected together. by diagonal braces 29.

30 are foot-rests for the plant-setters. The draft-beam 23 is extended forward to form a tongue, and a doubletree is connected thereto by a hammer strap and pin in the usual manner.

At the rear of the machine I attach a rowmarker 18, which is intended to mark the line for the next row, so as to space the rows the proper distance. It is shown in Fig. 1 as connected to the right side; but it may be connected to either side of the machine. It consists of a piece 18, connected by an arm to a coupling device 16, hinged in the slotted end of the bar 15, fastened to the platform, the detail of this being shown in Fig. 3, and for coupling this the marker is raised, so that the T end will pass down into the slot of the bar 15, making a connection that cannot be loosened until the marker is thrown up at the proper angle. I

The furrow-marker or plow 27 is constructed in the manner shown and described in my former patent and needs here no further description other than to say that the plant is intended to be set between its open rear ends, which are widened for that purpose.

Below the drivers seat 9 is fixed aboard 14, which rests upon the cross-bars 2, and a box is thus formed directly beneath the drivers seat within easy reach of the workmen sitting on the cushions 6 on either side. I thus avoid the necessity of providing a box for holding the plants upon the forward part of the machine, as shown in my former device.

My machine operates as follows: The team is hitched to the doubletree and the driver takes his seat at 9. The plants are placed in the box beneath the drivers seat and the plant-setters sit upon the cushions 6, The furrows are made by the plows 22, and the operator, taking a plant from the box, places it and the furrow thus formed between the separated ends of the furrow-marker. The covering-wheels follow, filling in the earth on each side and pressing it firmly, and the driver, by shifting his seat, can bring his weight down so as to force the f u rroW-marker deeper into the ground, and by shifting his seat back can raise it out of the ground.

By the use of this device a great deal of time and labor is saved and a large number of plants can be set in a day, and by the improvements herein shown the objections to my former machine are entirely removed. The rear section is easily swung up upon the hinges 26, and all parts are flexible and work easily as related to each other.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

1. In a plant-setting machine, a platform providing seats for the workmen, mounted upon brackets on each side carrying a pair of covering-wheels, a forward section beneath which are secured furrow-marking plows on each sidehinged to a cross-bar connected to the rear platform and also connected to such rear section by a link uniting the draft-bar to a rear bar which normally rests upon the draft-bar, and a seat-frame connected to such rear bar and provided with an adjustable seat, whereby the weight of the driver may be shifted from the covering-wheels to the furrow-markers or from the latter back to the former, substantially as shown and described.

2. A plant-setting machine whose framework is composed of two sections hinged together, the rear section providing a workingplatform mounted upon pairs of coveringwheels having seats for the workmen, the forward section mounted upon furrow-marking plows, a row-marker for centering the next series of rows, detachably con nected to the rear platform'and on one side, and a drivers seat movable on a frame-work connected thereto for adjusting his weight forward and backward, as desired, all combined substantially as shown and described.

3. In a plant-setting machine, a f rame-work composed of two sections hinged together, the rear section forming a platform having seats for the workmen, such platform supported upon pairs of covering-wheels mounted on axles connected to brackets bolted beneath the frame-work, such axles set at an angle to the shank and so disposed that the wheels are mounted upon the outside of such shank, the forward sections mounted upon furrow-mark ing plows, and the drivers seat movable on a frame-work connected to the machine for adjusting his weight forward or backward, as desired, all combined substantially as shown and described.

4. In a plant-setting machine, a row marker 18, detachably connected to the rear platformsection on either side by means of the couplings 16, and slotted bar 15, connected to the frame, substantially as shown and described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of March, 1890.

NOAH M. CHEW. Witnesses:

H. D. N EALY, E. B. GRIFFITH. 

